Counting device



- COUNTING DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 18, 1965 U'ited States Patent US. Cl. 317-140 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention uses a plurality of relay contacts in the form of ball armatures sealed in glass tubes with permanent magnets adjacent to the ends of the glass tubes. Coils around the tubes may be selectively energized to pull the ball armatures to either end of the tube where they are held latched by the field of the permanent magnet.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 496,827, filed Oct. 18, 1965, now abandoned.

The invention relatesto a counting device with balltype reed contacts. Facilities with such components have a Wide field of application because they have a high operating speed and a life expectancy compatible with electronic components with the large resistance switching ratio of electro-mechanical relays.

Electro-mechanical counting devices known to the art have a high switching ratio, that means the resistance ratio between two terminals in the marked and in the non-marked condition is very high. These counting devices, however, are relatively expensive in production, require much space and considerable adjusting work. The counting frequency is limited due to the masses which must be moved. But, they have a certain inertia, so that it is impossible to use them above a defined counting speed.

Electronic counting devices, known to the art are not restricted to this low counting frequency limit. But electronic counting devices like all electronic components can be applied only to a certain limit with regard to the switching capacity. Electronic components for high switching capacities are relatively expensive. The abovedefined switching ratio is limited.

An object of the invention is to create a counting device which possesses a great switching capacity, has high counting frequencies, and also has a high switching ratio. This object is accomplished in the inventive counting device by the use of ball-type reed contacts, coupled in a suitable manner.

The use of hermetically sealed contacts enables an increase in the admissible switching capacity. The current consumption is comparatively small due to the small masses of the ball-type armature to be moved, and at the same time the counting frequency is relatively high.

In the counting device, a sequence of terminal pairs is successively and electrically connected with each other. The finally connected pair of terminals, which must be separated again, is equipped with a bistable magnetic basic member for each counting stage. During the counting process, due to the successive control of the interdependent switching means, one basic member after the other is brought from the stable non-operative condition into the stable working condition where it remains. Thus, the output terminals of the counter are marked in a l-outof-n code. The output terminals are always connected mutually via a.make-contact of one basic member and via a break-contact of the next following basic member.

The break-contacts of the first basic member can be used to indicate the position zero.

According to the invention, the counting device is arranged so that the bistable magnetic basic members consist of two parallel ball-type armature reed contact housings with break and make-contact opposing each other. One permanent magnet is arranged at each of the ends of the housing between the break-contact and between the make-contacts. Both reed tubes have two common coils arranged outside the center of the reed tubes. Due to the coercive force of the terminal magnets in the deenergized condition of the coils, the ball-type armatures connect the make-contacts or the break-contacts which are inserted hermetically into the reed tubes.

The coupling of the basic members is chosen so that the coil in the vicinity of the make-contacts of a basic member is connected to the counting pulse input via a make-contact of the preceding basic member (except for the first basic member) and via a break-contact of the succeeding basic member (except for the final basic member).-When a counting impulse arrives, both balls are drawn from the break-contacts in the direction of the make-contacts.

If required the counting pulses can be made very short. With the aid of a preceding monostable trigger stage, the energy in the counting pulses, applied to the coils, is sufficient to draw the balls from the more distant contacts and out of the field of the adjacent permanent magnet and through the mutual center between the two permanent magnetic fields. The balls are not stopped by either the coil-excited field or any residue of the counting pulse which may reach the next following basic member.

To restore the counting device to its original condition (zero position) the coils in the vicinity of the break-contacts are connected in parallel or in series with a second input terminal. The halls are drawn from the make-contacts to the break-contacts responsive to an impulse applied to that input. Thus, one break-contact of the first basic member can indicate the zero position. With the aid of a monostable trigger stage, the restoring pulses can be dimensioned to avoid chatters at the break-contacts.

It is possible to connect the basic members through a coupling of the second input and the break-contacts of the first basic member with the make-contacts of the last basic member to form a so-called ring or counter.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of obtaining them will become more apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which a single sheet of drawing is a schematic circuit diagram of the inventive counter.

The basic member of the counting device is a ball-type armature reed contact relay with two parallel housings, as at each end of and between the housings there is a permanent magnet M with definite poles N, S. Each pair of housing is equipped with two common coils, such as S1, S2, the coils being wound around the housings like a cylinder. Both coils are arranged outside the longitudinal center of the housing, the contact pair closer to coil S1 is marked as make-contact AK. The pair of contacts closer to coil S2 is marked as a break-contact RK.

A permanent magnet latches the balls in their last operated position. That is being applied to one of the two coils S1, S2, the balls Kg, make the contact by brid-ging the make-contact AK or the break-contact RK, and they are pulled in by the force of the permanent magnet M. If one of the two coils is energized, both balls are pulled into the magnetic field of the coil in the parallel housings. The excitation current must be so high that the pulling force of the coil overcomes the force of the permanent magnet which is applied to the balls touching the more remote contacts. At the end of the excitation current, the coil field disappears and the balls are driven to the adjacent pair of contacts AK and/ or RK due to the pulling force of the permanent magnet.

Also, such basic members can be arranged so that the balls connect the adjacent contact pair immediately after the excitation of one coil. By using a preceding monostable trigger stage in the counting device, the excitation impulse is safely finished during the motion of the ball. This prevents the next following pair of ball-type armature from being actuated by the same counting pulse.

The drawing shows a counting device with four basic members G1 to G4. Due to succeeding pulses applied to the input An, the terminal pairs 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 are successively interconnected. The arrangement of the first and of the final basic member G1 and G4, respectively deviates slightly from'the arrangement of the other members. These deviations can easily be explained from their respective function.

At the commencement of a counting process the balltype armatures are all in the original condition, shown on the accompanying drawing. The contacts Rk, NK are closed. This condition can be obtained, for example, in that previously an impulse is applied to the input Ab of the series or parallel-connected coils S2. At the first counting impulse applied to the input An, an excitation current flows via the first coil S1 of the first basic member G1 and via the second break-contact of the second basic member G2, electrically connected, through the ball armature. Thereupon, the balls of the first basic member bridge and connect the make-contacts of the first basic member. The terminal pair 1-1 is electrically connected through the first make-contact of the first basic member, and the first break contact of the second basic member.

When the second counting pulse is applied to the input An, an excitation current flows via the second make-contact of the first basic member, via the first coil of the second basic member and via the second break-contact of the third basic member. Thereupon, the balls of the second basic member connect the make-contacts of the basic member. The terminal pair 2-2 is mutually and electrically connected via the first make-contact of the second basic member and via the second break-contact of the third basic member. The first excitation coil of the first basic member cannot be excited because the breakcontacts of the second basic member'are open. The connection 1-1 is also interrupted for the same reason.

This is correspondingly repeated with the cyclical interchange at the third counting pulse, applied to the input An. The terminal pair 33 is now interconnected electrically.

In the counting device shown on the drawing and having four basic members, a deviation occurs during the fourth counting pulse. The excitation coil S1 of said fourth basic member receives excitation current only via the second make-contact of the third basic member. The through-connected terminal pair 4-4 passes only via the first make-contact of the fourth basic member.

After the counting process has been completed the counting device must be restored to its original condition by an impulse applied to the input Ab. The described and drawn counting device can easily be re-designed to become a ring counter by making a connection from the make-contacts of the final (e.g., fourth) basic member to the break-contacts of the first basic member. After each cycle, the bistable basic members are reset into the original position.

While the principles of the invention have been described above in connection with specific apparatus and is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A counting device with a bistable magnetic basic memory er counting stage,

each stage comprising a plurality of output terminals connected via interdependent switching means,

said interdependent switching means including a makecontact of one basic member and a break-contact of the next following basic member,

means for operating one basic member after the other during the counting process responsive to the successive operation of the interdependent switching means from one stable condition into another stable operating condition,

means for holding each of the bistable means in the condition in which it has been operated,

each of the said bistable magnetic basic members include twoparallel ball-armature reed contacts with opposing break and make-contacts,

a permanent magnet located at each of the ends of said parallel reeds between the break-contacts and between the make-contacts,

two common coils arranged outside the center of the two parallel reed tubes,

in the deenergized condition of the coils the ball type armature bridging either the make-contacts or the break-contacts or reed tubes,

said balls being held in place responsive to the magnetic effects of the permanent magnet associated with the balls, and

means for making the output terminals of the counter l-out-of-n code.

2. A counting device according to claim 1 and means for connecting an input terminal to the coil of a basic member in the vicinity of the make-contacts of that member via a make-contact of the preceding basic member (except for the first basic member) and via a breakcontact of the succeeding basic member (except in the final basic member), and means responsive to the receipt of a counting impulse for pulling both balls from the break-contacts to the make-contacts.

3. A counting device according to claim 2 and means for connecting the coils being in the vicinity of the breakcontacts in parallel or in series with a second input, and means responsive to a pulse at said second impact for pulling theballs from the make-contacts to the breakcontacts, to reset the counting device to a zero position.

4. A counting device according to claim 3, and means for connecting the basic members in a ring counter configuration by coupling the second input and the breakcontacts of the first basic member with the make-contacts of the final basic member.

applications, it is to be understood that this description 5. A counting device according to claim 4 and means for providing counting pulses and the resetting pulses of limited duration, said duration being such that the force applied by the counting and/ or resetting pulses for efiecting the movement of the balls via the coils, is sufiicient to pull said balls from the more remote contacts out of the field intensity of the there adjacent permanent magnet over the mutual center between both permanent magnetic fields with said counting pulse terminating before the ball reaches the next following basic member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,380,006 4/1968 Donath 317--14O X LEE T. HIX, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 3l7--l55.5 

